My dear friend, Amber Durgan, has been a guest on the podcast before, is also my co-author of our book, Friendship Matters, and is a previous guest-poster here on the blog. Today, I am delighted to have her joining us on the blog again, this time for a Holy Week series (be on the lookout for the next two parts in this series which will release on Good Friday and Easter Sunday)!
In recent months, Amber has been learning about the beauty of the spiritual practice of gospel contemplation and of using your imagination to enter into a story from Scripture and thereby coming to a deeper understanding of it. May you come away inspired and equipped to do the same through Amber’s beautiful words.
In my mind’s eye I am walking along a dusty Jerusalem road, carrying on about my business, when I turn a corner and see two men untying a donkey. I am curious, this day, where they are going and why they have walked into town to retrieve this animal. Is it even theirs to be taking? Finding myself with suddenly nothing better to do, I quietly follow them from a distance, overhearing them share about victory and promises. I understand their rumblings. I’ve been hearing them all around town. There is this man, some call Him the Messiah, a man who looks just like the rest of us. There is nothing special about His appearance. He is a Jewish man – brown eyes, leathered skin, facial hair and dirty feet. I know nothing of freedom. We have lived for so long under Roman rule, the very idea of freedom seems lost on us. Could this be the one who will set us free, are these men in on something the rest of us have yet to believe?
I quicken my pace. There are enough people out on the road that I realize these two are completely unaware of my presence. They are caught up in their task at hand. Soon, we turn a corner and my eyes meet His. He looks at me, and my heart knows. I don’t even know how to explain it. His eyes pierce through my wanderings and compel me inwardly. I cannot get close enough. Who is this man and why is he here? What does he need with this donkey and why is this group of people journeying with him?
Soon, He sits on the donkey and begins to travel back towards the city. Again, I follow. I could be doing so many other things at this moment - there is bread to bake, clothing to wash, children to teach, and a husband to care for, but instead I am caught up in the wonder of anticipation. The streets are getting crowded and are noisy - not so different from a usual day. I wonder if I am making too much of this man. He is riding a donkey; it’s not as if that has never been done before. “Should I leave?” I question myself, “Am I crazy for thinking this man could be sent to set us free?”
I have grown up Jewish. It is all I have ever known. I have heard the Torah preached in the Synagogues. I know the stories of our people. Always under some sort of oppression, it would seem. Especially the women and children. We have never known any differently, and so we have accepted it as our fate. And then, this. A man riding into town on a donkey on an average spring day. Nothing so special about that, unless you saw the way He looked at me. The way a simple look made my heart stir, as if He could see inside and knew me intimately.
I can’t leave. What I have to get done will have to wait.
Suddenly people begin to take their cloaks off and lay them on the ground. Others ran to cut down branches from palm trees, the air becoming electric. There was nothing I could do but sit spellbound. I watched as a few others gathered near, sudden shouts of Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! beginning to ring out.
Others stood just as amazed as I, wondering who this man was. Some said He was a prophet, others seemed to know that His name was Jesus and that he was from Nazareth in Galilee.
Soon, pharisees who had gathered around shouted at this man to rebuke his disciples. They seemed uncomfortable at the scene this was causing. This man named Jesus responded with the assurance that if he told these men to be quiet, the very rocks would cry out. While I didn’t have all of the details, I was beginning to understand this wasn’t just an average Jewish man riding into town on an ordinary day.
This man, this King, had come to set the world free. Little did I know that this week of His life would be the last or that His kingdom was not of this world. But that story, reader, is to be continued later this week.
Being imaginative with the Word (Gospel contemplation) may be a new practice for you. It is a spiritual discipline created by Saint Ignatius who believed bringing our imagination to the narrative was one way we could encounter God. There is no right or wrong way to do this and it will likely take some practice. My belief is that as long as we are staying true to the Biblical stories, adding in some imagination can aid in deepening our love of Scripture.
This week we will be looking at two more stories (Good Friday and Easter Sunday) through the use of Gospel contemplation and then answering a series of questions. I encourage you to sit with these and allow the Spirit to lead you, as you ponder Holy Week in a new light.
Questions for Reflection:
1). How did it feel to use your imagination when considering this text?
2). What do you think it would have been like to be present on Palm Sunday?
3). Where do you see God at work within this story, and in what way does that impact your relationship with Him?
About the author
Amber is wife to Lance and homeschool momma to their two sweet little men. Her family resides in Montana, “where the mountains meet the prairie”. She has been blogging on and off since 2006 and has a passion to see women live into abundance through finding their worth and identity in Christ alone. To that end she has co-authored two books – Walk By The Spirit (January 2020) and Friendship Matters (December 2020).
